The House Education and the Workforce Committee today held a hearing to discuss strategies for Perkins reauthorization that will lift up promising models to serve all students with high-quality CTE. Witnesses included Dr. Monty Sullivan of the Louisiana Community Technical College System (an ACTE Educational Institution Member), Mr. Paul Tse of Shapiro and Duncan, Mr. Jason Bates of Toyota Bodine and its Advanced Maintenance Technician Co-op) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA).
Sen. Kaine, a co-chair of the Senate CTE Caucus, spoke at length about his passion for CTE before his colleagues in the House, and highlighted several pieces of legislation that he and his fellow co-chairs have introduced to support CTE students. Specific pieces Sen. Kaine referenced included the Middle STEP Act, Educating Tomorrow's Workforce Act, Creating Quality Technical Educators Act and JOBS Act, which would connect CTE students at all levels with additional federal resources and support. Kaine also highlighted the importance of including CTE in the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and alignment with other federal education and workforce preparation policies.
Other themes that emerged during the hearing included career guidance support, dual and concurrent enrollment opportunities, industry partnerships and career exploration activities in middle grades. In addition, some members pointed to the critical need for greater federal investment in Perkins to further strengthen our national CTE system. Overall, members of the committee emphasized the important bipartisan nature of Perkins and these reauthorization principles, and expressed optimism that there may be a path forward for a reauthorization bill before the end of this Congress. Check back soon for additional photos from the hearing!
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Posted by: Keziah | 07/10/2016 at 04:33 AM